Alternative to the Main Stream

Google and Facebook fund ‘fake news war rooms’ to ‘truthify’ Western elections – UK next

Google and Facebook fund ‘fake news war rooms’ to ‘truthify’ Western elections – UK next

In cramped offices just a few hundred metres from Buckingham Palace, the crack troops of the war against fake news are on high alert.

Professional fact checkers, economists and statisticians are among 25 staff being part-funded by Google and Facebook to protect the UK election from fake news in an initiative run by Full Fact and First Draft, two fact-checking organisations, the latter battle hardened by tours of duty in the US and French elections.

One night this week they scanned the internet as usual for false reports and misleading claims about the election gathering traction on social media. A piece being shared thousands of times on Facebook about Jeremy Corbyn rang alarm bells.

“Corbyn confirms a Labour government would pay £92bn Brexit bill in full,” ran the headline on an apparent news site called YourBrexit.co.uk.